Council Approves The Vault's Liquor License

The party will go on at The Vault. The Sioux Falls City Council approved the nightclub's renewal for a liquor license Tuesday night. The vote was 7 to 1.

The Vault management stepped up to say they have made changes and will continue to do even more to address complaints from neighboring hotels about unruly customers. The city council says if that doesn't happen, the next vote won't be in The Vault's favor.

“Next year when the renewal comes before the city council, it's before the same city council dealing with it right now,” City Council Member Jim Entenman said.

“The changes do not have to with the inside but what happens on the outside. That's where the complaints came from. That's where neighbor interference is occurring,” City Council Member Greg Jamison said.

The Vault's owners say they had already addressed noise issues, updated security plans and would make even more changes.

“We will do whatever we can to be a good neighbor,” owner Kirby Muilenburg told the council.

Muilenburg says the club has added parking-lot staff to deal with the patrons who party too hard and want to keep it going after closing time.

“There will be at least one person, when we deem necessary, when the parking lot is full, we'll send someone out there and they'll be stationed there for the evening,” Muilenburg said.

An attorney for the Staybridge Suites and Holiday Inn Express management says the willingness to change comes too late.

“We'll be asking the city council not to renew this issue,” Attorney J. Vincent Jones said.

Hotel management say they've dealt with problems on and off for years. Despite recent attempts to work together, if things don't work, one more year is a long time to lose sleep.

“We want you to know my clients are not unreasonable. If the time comes and this is resolved, my clients are gonna be happy. They don't want to be here tonight,” Jones said.

The "yes" vote ensures the party goes on for one more year. Time will tell what happens next year.

“If the outside is still a raucous scene and the neighbors are still complaining, then The Vault has not fixed them, then we have grounds,” Jamison said.

The city also addressed parking concerns saying it may have to amend codes. The Vault's capacity is 600 people. The parking lot holds fewer than 110 cars, which is one cause of the chaos.